Brown Knoll and the Edale Skyline
14.7 miles and 962m of ascent around Upper Booth, walked in 6h01. Route notes to follow.
- Peak District
- Kinder
- Edale
- moorland
- long day
Getting there
- Grid reference
SK 0914 8246- Postcode
SK23 0QT
Hayfield, off Sheffield Road. Village car parks, pay and display.
Route Map
Open In New Tab3D Route
Full screen ↗Map and navigation
The line on the map is the GPX from the day, so it is the route as actually walked. You will not find numbered directions telling you to bear left at the third gate.
That is on purpose. This is not about telling you where to go. It is about sharing a route that works with a dog, and getting you out to explore it yourself.
For your four legged companion
What this route is like with a dog, at a glance.
- Some waterStreams or pools to drink from
- Open Access landOn Access land dogs must be on a lead no longer than 2m from 1 March to 31 July, for ground-nesting birds
- Rough underfootUneven, rocky or boggy going
Route notes
The day
September 2025. 14.7 miles round with 962m of climbing, 6h01 on the move.
A bit of light drizzle but nothing that lasted, 7 to 12°C, wind gusting to 17mph.
Walking with
Just me and Ember.
The route
Out of Hayfield on Peat Lane and Beet Lane, climbing south east onto the moor, then over the tops to Brown Knoll. The high point of the day at 571m on the GPS, and the trig pillar there sits at 569m: close enough that this is the summit rather than somewhere near it.
Brown Knoll stands above the head of the Edale valley, about three kilometres south south west of Kinder Scout. The ground up there is peat and it is famously wet, though the flagstones have improved matters.
Down Chapel Gate to Barber Booth, the low point at 247m, then the length of the Edale valley on the Edale Road before the long haul back over Old Mam Tor Road and Peak Forest to Hayfield.
The climbing is oddly arranged: 219m in the first fifth, then a flat third fifth of only 41m, then 258m and 233m in the last two. Most of the work is in the second half.
For your four legged companion
Open moor most of the way, so the lead rules apply: on Access land dogs must be on a lead no longer than two metres from 1 March to 31 July, whether or not there is stock about.
Sheep throughout. Brown Knoll and the Edale valley are both grazed.
Water is scarce on the tops and plentiful once you drop into Edale. Plan for the gap rather than the average.
Parking and practicalities
Hayfield has car parks, pubs, a shop and public toilets, which makes it a better start than most for a long day.
Edale at the halfway point has the Old Nags Head and a station on the Manchester to Sheffield line, if the day goes wrong.
Recorded 2025-09-27. 14.7 miles, 962m of ascent, 6h01 moving.
Brown Knoll’s height and position from Wikipedia.
Photos from this walk
12 photographs, in the order we came to them.
Downloads and Links
Mountain weather: MWIS forecast
General weather: Met Office
Nearby walks
Other routes starting within a few miles of this one.